Wonder, the power of devotion binds God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देखिलासि माती खातां । दावियानें बांधी माता ॥१॥
जाळी घेउनि कांबळी काठी । गाई वळी वेणु पाठीं ॥ध्रु.॥
मोठें भावार्थाचें बळ । देव जाला त्याचें बाळ ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भक्तासाठीं । देव धांवे पाठोवाटीं ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He was seen eating mud, and when shown the evidence, his mother tied him up. Yet he takes the blanket and the staff, herds the cows, and carries the flute on his back. Great is the power of devotion; God himself became her child. Says Tuka, for the sake of his devotee, God runs along every path.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He was caught eating mud. When the proof was shown, his mother tied him up. Still he takes the blanket and the staff, herds the cows, carries the flute on his back. Great is the power of true feeling. God himself became her child. Tuka says: for the sake of his devotee, God runs along behind him on every path.
What it means
Tukaram looks at the ordinary stories of child Krishna and reads the secret in them. The mud-eating, the scolding, the mother tying him to a post, the daily herding: each is something only a real child does, and God consents to all of it. The hinge is the third line, the power of bhava, of true feeling. It is devotion that pulled God into Yashoda's lap as her own son. Tuka lands it as a promise: God is not aloof. For the one who loves him he comes running, staying close on every path the devotee walks.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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